25. Huntyr
Chapter 25
Huntyr
I waited all day for Wolf to come back to the bedroom, to find me sneaking out with Jessiah, to ruin the entire plan.
But none of that happened.
My nerves grew and grew as the night approached, but nothing was going to stop me from flying home. Nothing was going to take this one chance away from me.
Wolf never showed up, which made it easy for me to slip on my worn boots and meet Jessiah in the hallway.
He was already waiting, his jacket tight across his shoulders as he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, looking just like Wolf but much less smug. Always less smug.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked, suddenly feeling like we were going to get caught any minute.
“No.” His voice echoed off the small hallway. “It’s definitely not a good idea. But I made a deal with you, and I’d rather we get this over with now, while things are calm.”
I nodded. “I swear I won’t stay long. Just enough time to see some people, and we’ll be back here before anyone notices.” Lord and Rummy. If I could just lay eyes on them, if I could just tell them I was alive, I could at least go through with this damn plan knowing they were at peace with it.
My heart ached in my chest.
“If we hurry, we’ll be back before the sun comes up,” he said, pushing himself off the wall. “But it’s going to be risky. Come with me.”
I followed him as he crept through the dark hall. He descended the stairs of the small, hidden staircase, careful not to make a single sound with his boots. I did the same. Jessiah’s white angel wings were tucked tight behind his shoulders, the only way his large frame would fit through the bottom door.
The cold air fluttered across my skin, tickling my nerves.
I lost hope of ever going back home. Even after my conversation with Jessiah, I never thought he would actually risk taking me back there, but I was learning, day by day, that Jessiah was a man of his word. He was loyal and kind, and if he made a deal with me, he would keep it.
We walked outside in silence, but the street began to look familiar as we made our way to the very back of The Golden City.
“Are we taking the tunnel out of here again?” I whispered. “Won’t Griffith tell Asmodeus that we left?”
He turned and looked at me, letting his wings fan out on either side. “When you live in this place long enough, Huntyr, you learn a thing or two about how loyalty works.”
I did the same, summoning my wings and flaring them on either side of my body in preparation as we walked.
“That doesn’t make me feel better about this.”
Jessiah just laughed under his breath as we found the same large stone that covered the entrance to the tunnel. “Griffith has known Wolf and I since we were children. He loved us more than our own father did at times. As long as we return before we are noticed, he’ll keep our secret for us.”
I froze, hesitating at the tunnel’s entrance. “You’re sure about this?”
Jessiah’s smile faded. “I’m sure that Griffith won’t announce our departure, yes. But if you’re having doubts, we can always turn back. We have a long journey ahead and you need to be sure.”
“No,” I interrupted. “I want to go.” I didn’t give it another thought. I jumped into the tunnel and made my way toward the other end, where Griffith and the stables would be waiting. Jessiah was right. I was sure about this. It was worth the risk.
Jessiah followed behind me, reaching up to push the exit door open. “You owe me for this,” he whispered.
“And you owe me for assisting in holding me captive, so I’ll consider us even for now.”
He rolled his eyes, but I was already crawling out of the tunnel above. I waited for him outside, crouching near the entrance in the darkness.
It looked much, much different here than it did during the day. Griffith’s lantern from inside became the only visible light filtering toward us.
But Griffith was already awake, waiting. I jumped in surprise when I saw him leaned against a tree to my right.
Jessiah stood beside me as Griffith stepped forward. “This is dangerous, even for you,” he said to Jessiah.
“We know it’s risky,” Jessiah replied. “We wouldn’t be going if it weren't absolutely necessary.”
Griffith practically ignored me the last time we came here to gather the horses, but not this time. He stared me up and down, his intense eyes beating into me like they could see my every secret.
“You put all of us in danger by leaving, girl,” he said. “It isn’t just your life on the line here. It’s mine. It’s Jessiah’s.”
I stiffened, rolling my shoulders backward. I was getting tired of hearing that. It was selfish for me to leave like this, but couldn’t they see the situation I was in? Couldn’t they see how desperately I needed this? “I’ll never speak of this again, and I’ll never ask this of you again.” I met his eyes with the same intensity. “I swear it.”
Griffith looked at me for what felt like hours, but then he swallowed and turned to Jessiah. “Hurry up, then. The sooner you’re back, the better.” He turned and left, walking into the stables like he wanted no part of this.
“Are you sure this is okay?” I whispered to Jessiah.
“It’s fine, he’s just protective.” Jessiah sounded like it was no big deal, but every inch of my body lit up with nerves.
Griffith was right. It wasn’t just my life on the line. I was putting everyone else in danger by leaving tonight.
Which made it so much more important.
I stayed silent as Jessiah led us away from the stables. I felt the protective magic of the wall the second we passed through. It was as if the air itself shifted from the danger we were now exposed to, but I loved it.
We were finally free again.
“Stay as low as possible until we’re away from the wall. Then we’ll rise.” I nodded, spreading my wings and preparing to jump. The trees would be tricky, but there was a gap wide enough for both of us and our wingspans.
Jessiah nodded at me one more time, offering a reassuring smile before launching into the air.
I stayed directly behind him, mimicking his movements as he guided us up and up. It took only a few minutes before we could not see the remainder of The Golden City behind us.
I never knew angels could fly so fast. We were not simply moving through the air; we were soaring. Wind roared in my ears as we catapulted through the night sky. Thank the goddess that Jessiah knew where we were headed, because I had absolutely no clue. The moon glowing above us became the only light illuminating the treetops.
We could have flown for an hour. We could have flown for three. I lost track of time as I soaked in the clean, night air.
It was peaceful up here.
Safe.
“We’re close,” he said eventually, his low voice slicing through the wind. “You stay hidden. See who you came here to see, nobody else. The last thing we need is all the citizens of Midgrave announcing they saw an angel flying through the sky.”
Fair enough. Especially because until Wolf, nobody here would have believed angels still existed.
The crumbling, half-eroded city of Midgrave slowly came into view as we approached the ground. Jessiah led us down until we both landed with no more than the sound of crunching sticks below us.
I immediately found my footing, retracting my wings, then stepped toward the border of my old town.
Jessiah caught my arm, forcing me to face him. “I’m serious, Huntyr. The second you’re done, we leave.”
I had never heard him talk so sternly, almost as if he… as if he was afraid.
“I know.” I put a reassuring smile on my face. “I’ll just be a minute.”
I wanted nothing more than to run back to Phantom and find Lord, but Rummy’s small unit was closer. I would stop there first, talk to her for just a few minutes, and then go find Lord.
The streets were darker than I remembered. The entire town slept; nobody dared to creep through these alleys at night. Not unless they wanted to be food for the hungry ones, anyway.
I kept my footsteps light, half-running in the shadows as we got closer and closer to where Rummy lived. Jessiah followed behind me, but he stayed back far enough that we wouldn’t be seen together unless he wanted to be seen.
He was sneakier than I anticipated.
When we approached Rummy’s building, I stopped, turning to face him. “Wait here,” I said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Absolutely not,” he argued. “I’m not taking my eyes off you in this place, Huntyr. Where you go, I go.”
I guess I should have expected as much. He wasn’t going to give me free rein in my old town. The last thing he needed to deal with was me running off, leaving him to answer to Asmodeus for why his blood queen went missing.
I couldn’t say the thought didn’t tempt me.
“Fine,” I said. “But these people have never seen an angel before. Try not to look so intimidating.”
The smirk on his face definitely reminded me of Wolf. “I’ll try my best.”
My heart beat faster and faster as I ascended the stairs to Rummy’s building. I reached out to grab the handle, still hardly believing I was actually here. I was actually home. For the first time since I went to Moira, I was back where I belonged.
Her door was locked. Go fucking figure.
“Let me,” Jessiah said. He stepped forward, pulling a tiny knife no larger than my palm out of his belt. He stuck the tip into the side of the door, jiggling it for only a second before the door slid open.
Damn, he was good. “Thanks,” I whispered, quietly pushing it open in the darkness.
My eyes had gotten more accustomed to the dark, something I was certain I had my newfound vampyre traits to thank.
But Rummy’s bed in the center of the room was empty.
I felt the cool blade on my neck a second later. “Tell me who the fuck you are, or you die right now.”
I didn’t have time to answer. Jessiah swept into the room, pinning Rummy and her threatening blade to the wall before I could even blink.
“Rummy,” I whispered. “It’s me! It’s Huntyr!”
She stopped struggling against Jessiah’s massive body, mouth falling open as she squinted in the darkness.
“Hunt?” she repeated. “Holy shit! I almost fucking killed you!”
Jessiah gently slid the knife from her hand before letting her go.
I half-shoved him out of the way and pulled my best friend into my arms.
I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that. I didn’t care. This felt real. This alone would give me the fuel I needed to get through another damn month in The Golden City. This alone reminded me why I was still fighting, why I was still living.
“Goddess,” she breathed, pulling back to take me in. “I thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead.”
“You have such little faith in me?” I asked.
She smiled, finally turning to look at Jessiah.
And his massive angel wings. “Holy hells. He’s a—a?—”
“He’s an angel. Yes, they still exist. There are even more of them inside The Golden City. Jessiah here is helping me,” I explained quickly. “He took me back here so I could talk to you, but I’m not staying. I wish I had more time to explain, but I have to go back tonight.”
Her eyes lingered on those wings before they shot back to mine. “You’re going back? Why?”
“It’s complicated, Rummy. I can’t explain it all, but there are some things I need to take care of before I can come back.”
There are some people I need to kill. There’s an entire evil archangel I need to get free from. But I didn’t tell her any of that. She had enough to worry about already.
“Are you alright?” she asked. “You survived Moira? You made it to The Golden City?” Her voice held so much hope, but why wouldn’t it? She still thought The Golden City was the great, magical place I could live my luxurious, perfect life in after completing Moira.
So, I smiled anyway, nodding my head. “I survived. I made it.”
She hugged me again. Hard.
“How are you?” I asked. “Tell me how you’ve been. What’s been going on around here?”
The smile faded from her face. She looked away, glancing down at her feet. “I don’t know, Hunt. Things are different. I can’t explain it, but it’s just a feeling. I’m on edge all the time; everyone is. It’s like we’re all afraid now.”
“Afraid of what?”
She shrugged. “Vampyres? Ourselves? I really don’t know, but the longer you’re gone, the worse it gets.”
When I didn’t respond, she shrugged. “But I’m sure I’m just being paranoid. We’ve all been a little on edge since the last attack.”
“Have there been more since I left for Moira?”
“Only one. The Phantoms took care of them this time, but we’re all waiting on the next attack.”
Even hearing her say Phantoms sent the hair on the back of my neck raising.
She picked up on it instantly, eyes softening. “He isn’t here.”
I stiffened. “What?”
“Lord isn’t here. I saw him go into the forest yesterday with a travel pack. I haven’t seen him since.”
My stomach dropped.
“Lord left?”
Jessiah’s features softened too. He had no idea who Lord was, had no idea how much it meant to me that I would get to see him again, would get to tell him I survived, that I made it into The Golden City and I could finish what he started by sending me there.
“Maybe he’s back and I missed it,” she offered. “Or you could stay here with me and wait for him.”
“Not an option,” Jessiah interrupted from the shadows. “We’re running out of time already.”
He was the whole reason I got into this mess.
He was the whole reason for everything.
I slowly stepped backward. Maybe he returned. Maybe he snuck back in tonight and Rummy didn’t see his arrival.
“I have to go check,” I said. “I have to see for myself.”
Rummy reached out and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “I’m coming with you.”
Jessiah, to my surprise, didn’t stop Rummy from coming along as we slipped back onto the shadowed streets of Midgrave and headed for Phantom. Nobody said a word as the cave entrance approached. Nobody spoke as I stepped inside, eyes vigilant, listening for any signs of Lord.
But the cave was empty. Nobody was here.
“He could be home,” Rummy whispered. “There’s one last place you could check.”
I nodded, immediately moving my feet in the direction of my old dwelling.
Rummy locked her arm through mine as we approached the run-down building. I had never been embarrassed of my home until now, until Jessiah stepped through the rat-covered entrance of the building, ducking so his wings could fit through the door.
The door to Lord’s unit was unlocked, and I pushed it open without a sound.
But the room was empty. His bed was made. The moonlight filtered in through the window, exposing just how little Lord really owned.
Everything was gone.
Panic started to creep through me. I spun and stormed in the direction of my own unit, just above Lord’s.
The door wasn't even shut. Someone forced it open, breaking the handle and leaving it ajar.
“Hells,” I murmured. The place was a disaster, worse than the normal, run-down home I grew up in. Someone had been here, had ransacked the place, had searched through every single inch.
Not like I had anything I cared about here. I had nothing of value to lose.
“You lived here?” Jessiah said, taking in the room.
My face heated. “Yes. Much different than the luxuries of The Golden City, I know.”
But Jessiah’s face held no judgment, no disgust. Only a deep, unmistakable sadness.
“I’m so sorry, Hunt,” Rummy whispered. “I know how badly you must have wanted to see him.”
I choked down my tears. I would not cry. Not here. Not because of this. “It’s alright,” I lied. “At least I got to see you.”
She placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll tell him you came. I’ll tell him you’re alive.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“We need to leave,” Jessiah said after a few moments. “We’ve already risked too much by walking through the entire city.”
I didn’t look at the room again, didn’t look at this sad excuse for a home that I was leaving behind. Because it didn’t matter how shitty it looked to Jessiah, how disgusting it felt, how unsafe it was, how unlivable.
This was home. I was coming back here one day; I swore to the goddess I would.
“Thank you, Rummy.” I pulled her in for one final hug. “I will come back again. I swear to you, I will.”
The tears in Rummy’s eyes reflected the moonlight. “I know you will. I know it.”
Jessiah said nothing, nodding respectfully at Rummy as we made our way back outside. She didn’t ask any more questions, didn’t question why this stranger of an angel had taken me back here in the middle of the night, didn’t question why I had to go back, why I couldn’t stay here.
She was a good friend for that, never questioning, always supporting me like the one stable thing I had in my life.
“I love you, Hunt,” she said as Jessiah spread his wings.
“I love you.” My voice cracked. “Take care of yourself. I’ll see you soon.” The words felt heavy—like a lie—as they left my mouth, but I couldn’t bear to imagine not seeing her again, of not coming home again after this.
This was my home. Rummy was my home.
“Ready?” Jessiah asked.
I nodded, summoning my own wings with a gust of magic. No, I would never be ready. Nothing in this entire world would make me ready to go back to The Golden City.
But Lord would know I was alive. Rummy knew I was alive.
Still, as we flew into the night sky and made our way back to the prison of The Golden City, I let the silent tears fall.
I would fight for them. I would survive this for them .
No matter what Asmodeus forced me to do in the meantime.